Ok ... this looks like a word translation problem.
So lets translate the words into algebra.
Assign variable:
p = her take-home pay each month
s = her savings each month
s/p = fraction of her take-home pay which she saved (THIS IS WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING US TO FIND)
12s = total amount of money saved at end of year
p - s = portion of salary which she did NOT save
"money saved at the end of year was 3 times her monthly unsaved salary":
12s = 3 (p - s)
12s = 3p - 3s
15s = 3p
Divide both sides by 3
5s = p
so s/p = 1/5. The savings were 1/5 of her monthly salary. Answer D
Hope this makes sense. Would be interested to see other approaches too.
II
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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving |
